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| Elite XC recap and final thoughts on ‘Unfinished Business’ Posted: 26 Jul 2008 11:58 PM CDT
There was plenty of action with three world titles on the line, including the highly anticipated rematch for the middleweight gold between “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler and Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith as the main event. That main event rematch between Lawler and Smith started off similar to their first encounter. Both guys had their moments in the first round and it looked like it was going to be another back and forth war. Then in the second round, Lawler got cut on his head and blood became a factor. In fact, Smith stated after the fight that he was waiting for Herb Dean to stop the fight because of all the blood, but that proved to be his downfall. Smith’s wait-and-see approach gave Lawler a huge window to turn on the pressure … and that’s exactly what he did. Lawler — perhaps a sense of urgency — was even more relentless with his attack after the cut. He landed some damaging knees and kicks to the body of Smith that eventually put him on the ground, where Lawler finished him off. This was a good win for Lawler and one he probably should have had back in May. He continues to knock guys out, and has progressed nicely into a legitimate champion for Elite XC. It looks like Frank Shamrock is probably up next. That’s going to be a great fight if it happens and a dangerous one for the champ. The hometown fighter, Nick Diaz, got co-main event status with his fight against Thomas Denny. That’s saying a lot about Nick Diaz’s star power in Stockton, considering there were two other championship fights besides the actual main event. No complaints here.
The fight was exciting, too. Thomas Denny came to scrap and stood toe-to-toe with Diaz for an entire round. There were several wild and sloppy exchanges, but Diaz steadily worked his technical boxing like he always does. The exchanges were clearly taking their toll on Denny as the first round progressed, but to his credit he stayed on the attack. The second round started off just like the first one ended, but Denny obviously left most of what he had in that first round. In fact, it only took Diaz 19 seconds to finish him off. It was a fun fight to say the least and the crowd absolutely loved it. We’ve waited long enough for a rematch between Diaz and division champ, KJ Noons. It’s going to be hard for Noons to say Diaz isn’t the number one contender now, unless he wants to fight Eddie Alvarez instead. Either way, the fans win, and KJ Noons more than likely loses. Jake Shields has always felt like the Elite XC vacant welterweight title was his — and he finally got his chance to make it official on Saturday night if he could beat Nick Thompson. However, “The Goat” hasn’t lost a fight in two years (12 fights). On paper, this looked like a very close match and one that could possibly be very dangerous for Jake Shields. But Shields came out and put on a show. He dominated “The Goat,” finishing him in just over a minute with a guillotine from the full mount position. A crushing win over a top guy like this is monumental for Shields. There were actually still people out there who were doubting his talent level. Tonight certainly cleared those doubts up once and for all. This was his first big, high profile fight on CBS, and he came out with a bang, proving to the American fans that he is the real deal. The world is going to know about Jake Shields now, and he’s a monster champion at 170 pounds for Elite XC. He’s one of the best in the world for sure. If I have any beef at all with the show, it was that a couple of the fights weren’t too competitive. I understand Rafael Feijao and Antonio Silva are being built up as stars, but there has to be some tougher competition out there for these guys. Justin Eilers as Silva’s opponent for the title was laughable. Eilers weight in at 218 pounds and was giving up almost 40 pounds to “Bigfoot.” It certainly didn’t have a heavyweight title fight feel to it. With that said, there are still some heavyweight fighters on Elite XC’s roster that could make for a threat to Silva’s crown. Dave “Pee Wee” Herman, Brett “The Grim” Rogers and Kimbo Slice are just a few. It makes sense that Antonio Silva is the first Elite XC heavyweight champion, but now it’s time to see him defend it against someone who’s legit. As far as Feijao, he’s a monster at 205 pounds. He has the potential to become one of the best light heavyweight fighters in the world … if he isn’t already. I know Galbraith is a tough guy with a pretty good record, but it’s clear he’s not on Feijao’s level — he’s not even a full-time fighter. I’m not trying to take anything away from Galbraith, he’s a tough dude, but I want to see Feijao get tested and Galbraith didn’t do that. The company has a Sho XC Challenger Series event coming up on August 15 that will showcase at least two or three light heavyweight fights with some interesting prospects.Poai Sugunama, Jared Hamman, “Snake” Diabate and Jaime Fletcher are all but confirmed for the card. Perhaps a challenger for Feijao and the vacant light heavyweight strap will emerge. The woman’s fight was awesome. They both fought with a ton of heart. Shayna Baszler laid it on the line, but Cristiane Cyborg was way too tough. Her Muay Thai is nasty — maybe even better than Gina Carano, who incidentally could be her next opponent. Watch out Gina. Something weird, however, happened in that fight during the second half of the second round. Cyborg dropped Baszler and thought she won the fight. She went into full celebration mode and was on the top of the cage cheering when she realized she was still in a fight. This might not have been the referee’s fault, but once again trouble found it’s way to a Steve Mazzagatti fight. Imagine that. In the last fight of the night, Wilson Reis used a controlling style to score a unanimous decision win over a tough Bryan Caraway. It wasn’t the most exciting fight, but it was clear the talent level was there for both guys. Reis is now undefeated (5-0) with three wins in Elite XC. He’s looking like the class of the company’s featherweight division. Last night on Inside MMA, the guys who run the Japanese MMA promotion DREAM, were talking about doing a featherweight grand prix next. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the 23-year-old Brazilian, Wilson Reis, compete and do well in that. Elite XC has a full schedule for the next couple of months. The promotion will be back on CBS for an October 4 card in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. That show will feature both Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano. Between now and then, there is a Sho XC event on August 15, and another scheduled event for September. There are still going to be those hardcores who don’t care for Elite XC, but it’s safe to say that it’s growing as an organization. The roster has expanded and is still expanding. They have some of the best fighters in the world, and some truly legitimate champions. And if the events continue to improve and the match makers start giving us more competitive fights to watch, Elite XC could be on it’s way to establishing itself as the clear number two behind the UFC. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Anderson Silva vs Patrick Cote UFC 90 title fight set for Chicago October 25 Posted: 26 Jul 2008 11:28 PM CDT
It was the match up we all expected because of the recent hand injury to Yushin Okami — considered the top contender until the mishap. Now we just have a date for the showdown. And “The Predator” is nothing short of confident. Here’s a snip from the Canadian:
That’s the type of confidence that he will certainly need to bring to the table against the Brazilian sensation. Whether or not it translates into success inside the Octagon is an entirely different animal. Silva is on an absolute tear … and a devastating one at that. He is on an eight-fight win streak, seven of which have come under the UFC banner. And none of those fights just mentioned have gone past the second round. To keep himself busy and the fans entertained, Silva recently moved up to light heavyweight and dispatched of James Irvin in round one of their non-title 205-pound bout at UFC Fight Night 14. It’s not a stretch to refer to him as the top mixed martial artist on the planet. And that doesn’t appear to phase Cote … yet. He has rebounded from losing his first four contests inside the Octagon to notch five straight impressive wins. Cote, in fact, has stopped three of his last four opponents via technical knockout. By the sounds of it, he sounds intent to keep this fight upright, which is often not the best strategy when it comes to defeating Silva. However, Cote has only lost via submission or decision …. so anything is possible. We’ll find out in Chicago on October 25 on pay-per-view (PPV). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elite XC results on CBS for ‘Unfinished Business’ LIVE tonight! Posted: 26 Jul 2008 04:42 PM CDT
Click the banner above or right here for up-to-the-minute results and blow-by-blow coverage of Elite XC: “Unfinished Business.” If you're going to leave comments and discuss the fights with all the other MMAmania.com readers be sure to do it on the main Elite XC results post and not this one. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fedor gets more than $300,000 for win over Tim Sylvia at Affliction Posted: 26 Jul 2008 04:36 PM CDT
Props: NBCSports.com Quoteworthy:
Fans went a little nuts earlier this week when the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) released the official fighter salaries for Affliction: “Banned” at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on July 19. That’s because Tim Sylvia pocketed $800,000 for a 36-second losing performance. And the man who thrashed him, Fedor Emelianenko — widely regarded as the top mixed martial artist on the planet — took home just $300,000. While it should be common knowledge that fighters often receive payment from other avenues (signing bonuses, pay-per-view percentages, etc.) in addition to their “official” pay, this report shines a light specifically on some of the other financial ways the Russian did and will continue to benefit. (Thanks to MMAmania.com reader “john” for the assist.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Randy Couture: ‘Becoming the Natural’ book contest winners Posted: 26 Jul 2008 04:34 PM CDT
So last week in the wake of the massive Affliction: “Banned” hysteria, we posed this question to our MMAmania.com readers: At this point, do you have any interest in a bout between Fedor and Couture? We received nearly 200 responses. And even though it was a tough choice here are the winning submissions (in no particular order):
– James
– JoeyVitaminB12
– J Walk
– Punk Rock Scott
– Mike Of course, I promised we would send out three free copies of Randy Couture’s new autobiography, “Becoming the Natural,” to the top three entries. Well, I couldn’t settle on just three so there are now five winners. Congratulations to them and thank you to everyone else who chimed in — we wish we could award everyone who got involved, but that’s just not possible. Thanks again to the book’s author, Loretta Hunt, for sending us some advanced copies to share with our readers. For those who did win please email us a fan-AT-mmamania.com with your addresses and any other contact info we need to fet your prizes in the mail. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MMAmania Elite XC ‘Unfinished Business’ t-shirt special Posted: 26 Jul 2008 11:16 AM CDT
Just another reminder that MMAmania.com recently received a new batch of black tees, which means that our readers cleared us out of our initial stock. Thanks guys and gals for supporting the cause. For those who missed out the first time around or want to lock-in our cheapest deal to date then take advantage of our Elite XC special below. It will expire after the Showtime/CBS event wraps later this evening. Thanks in advance. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elite XC betting odds for Lawler vs Smith II and other ‘Unfinished Business’ card fights Posted: 26 Jul 2008 09:41 AM CDT
This is just a quick reminder that Elite XC odds and betting opportunities are still available for the "Unfinished Business" event from the Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif., that takes place later tonight. It’s just one of many ways for fans to make fights nights that much more interesting … and profitable. This afternoon is your last chance before the first fight goes off later tonight at around 7:30 p.m. ET. Make the best of it. Here are the cold hard numbers:
Good luck as always and enjoy the fights, which will air on television at 8 p.m. with the Showtime telecast and then 9 p.m. ET on CBS. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UFC Quick Quote: Georges St. Pierre to bring his toolbox for Jon Fitch fight Posted: 26 Jul 2008 09:31 AM CDT
– UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre tells TSN.com all about his clash with number one 170-pound contender, Jon Fitch, at UFC 87: “Seek and Destroy” from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on August 9. If he gets the win it will mark his first title defense — something that didn’t go as planned the first time around against Matt Serra in 2007. “Rush” eventually exacted revenge; however, he doesn’t plan on having to do that all over again with the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) stand out. |
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